On one eventful summer night, a group of kids outsmart interfering adults to help an adorable marooned alien get back home.

If the space-fantasy plot of Earth to Echo, opening Wednesday July 2, seems to be orbiting a bit too close to planet E.T., it is. And it also packs a lot in from Close Encounters of the Third Kind and maybe just a non-scary touch of Poltergeist along with The Goonies and a smidge of Super 8. For those who see imitation as flattery, Earth to Echo is a cinematic Eddie Haskell.

But before dismissing this kid-focused adventure as just another Spielberg ripoff, here’s a twist. Thanks to an engaging young cast of newcomers and a modern update putting cellphones and found footage at the heart of the action, Earth to Echo manages to be its own movie, one infused with heart and humour. And the kids in the audience who have no idea what phoning home has to do with anything will love it.

Tuck (The X Factor’s Brian “Astro” Bradley), Munch (Reese Hartwig) and Alex (Teo Halm) are preteen best pals living in a Nevada suburb that’s slated for demolition to make room for a new freeway. They’re heartbroken that their families are being forced to move, breaking up their close friendships. And they don’t hesitate to show their annoyance with the work crews tearing up their world.

Tuck, the videographer and brains of the operation seems (and sounds) like a world-weary 25-year-old as he makes a final video of the pals’ last few days together. Nerdy Munch, who explains he’s “an acquired taste” when it comes to making friends, frets about going to a new school. Cool cat Alex comes across as tough but has his own issues to deal with.

When their cellphones start to go haywire, all showing the same strange patterns — Tuck describes it as looking like their tech “barfed” — there’s a mystery to be solved. Munch, who has a bedroom jammed with computer parts, figures out the weird images are maps. The kids bluff their parents with talk of sleepovers so they can ride their bikes into the desert to follow the trail and figure out what’s going on, all chronicled by Tuck’s cameras.

The phone signals lead then to a half-buried capsule containing a tiny owl-like alien with glowing blue eyes, who communicates by imitating their ring tones amid a few other nifty noises. He’s been dinged up on his trip to Earth and bonds with Alex, who is shy about showing compassion at first but eventually relents.

The boys find ways to interact with their new friend, who they decide to call Echo, and vow to help the little robo-critter reunite with his spaceship for a flight home. Echo helpfully sends maps to their phones.

Along the way, smarty-pants schoolmate Emma (Ella Wahlestedt) joins the hunt, inserted amid the guys for no apparent reason other than to make up the numbers and fulfil a demographic requirement.

The four play hide-and-seek from a nosy construction foreman (Jason Gray-Stanford), who seems to know more than he’s letting on about strange goings-on in the desert. They keep their parents off their scent in creative ways while Echo takes them on a wild scavenger hunt for spare parts that will help him get back into space.

A stop at a house party to look for Tuck’s older brother nets the keys to his car, which will help them move faster. Tuck gamely jumps behind the wheel but has no idea what he’s doing. Echo fills in for driving lessons, showing he has a few tricks up his robotic sleeve.

As for the kids, they realize they can actually have a hand in deciding their own fates, and gamely go for it.

Screen newcomers, director Dave Green and writer Henry Gayden, who previously teamed on web series Zombie Roadkill, are aiming for a Goonies vibe with the film and occasionally manage to come close.

As for kids in the audience, the jiggling camera work may be unsettling — that goes for parents as well — and they may find it upsetting when Echo is in peril.

With so few kid-friendly movies on the summer slate, Earth to Echo offers a heartfelt and often comic adventure. For that, some copycatting can be forgiven.

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